Leroy's Retirement

Hello,

Leroy’s retirement from active ministry or church work is officially today. He is at church doing the final clean sweep of his office. He has gotten rid of most of his books. The current intern took some and another seminary student that he knows took some more. He was fussing a little about his files. He has considered getting rid of most of them. I do not believe he has very many. After I told someone he did not reuse sermons, he now tells me that he is keeping some of his, or what he considers his best sermons, so he can pull them out if required. I suspect what would happen is that he would pull it out and change quite a bit of it before delivery.

We will remain in this church so he will have to be vigilant to not interfere or contribute in any way that might be considered official. Last night he was talking to someone about upcoming surgery and getting all of the details in place. I, in my head, wondered what he was doing. I suspect the person there also wondered because she told him that one of the other pastors knew about it. Finally this morning I talked to Leroy about it. He was a bit horrified. He commented that he had not even heard her say about the other pastor knowing about it. Last night he was concerned because he had not seen it on the church office calendar. This will be a learning experience for all. Any other time we have left a congregation we have moved so there is no close connection.

Going back to those files, Leroy is wondering where we can store them. Just now I realized we can take things out of the bottom two drawers of the file cabinet since they are not files, but just items stored there.

Also a random thought. Leroy has served this congregation for five years making it the third longest stay. The longest stay was for fifteen years and the next for eight.

How lives all differ. Yesterday I was talking to a woman who has lived in her house for 40 years. I do not know what that would be like.

This is a picture of Leroy and I after the evening worship service and the celebration for him.

Paula

Volunteering Again

Hello

I volunteered at the neighborhood meals again. On my walk there I saw about a half block away, three teenage boys, or perhaps a little older, goofing around. One of them yelled, “Hey!”

I looked over, but kept walking my way. “Hey!” I heard again then “Hey, Babe!” followed by “Hey, Babe, where ya going?”

I just kept walking and did not even bother to wave. I suspect if he had been closer he would not have called me babe, but rather Granny. I have been told by someone who knows me that I walked like a young girl. Now if I could just back into rooms, no one would know how old I am. It is the face that gives it away.

Our church helps with the meals three weeks in the summer. I have now worked twice. Sarah will be here for the last week so I will not do this again this year. There were not so many people today, about 50 less than last time. Unfortunately that makes the planning difficult; fortunately that is not my job. I served food today, fruit cocktail to be precise. There were left over bananas so some people had three fruits, because there was also pineapple. Many of the people who come have several children in tow. I do not know if economically they need the food or if it is because it is so helpful to have someone else fix it and serve it. Anyone can come and eat, no questions asked.

Even though it is warm again it was a nice walk because there are so many large trees that shade my way and the breeze was blowing. With the sun out it was a treat to be out.

Paula

Leroy Home

Hello,

Leroy is home today because he put in so many hours at the museum last week. His back or leg does not feel so good, consequently he will go to the chiropractor later, but this morning he helped me deliver the last of the newsletters. It was great to be out in the cool morning air. I enjoy looking at the flowers in the neighborhood.

Most of the lawns in the area are not as pristine as is true of many other places in the USA. I like this however, because I assume they have not had fertilizer or weed killer added. The monarch butterflies were out this morning and yesterday as well. More and more people are randomly growing milkweed. Yeah for weeds!

Yesterday, as I came home from church, I happened to see a woman out on her porch. I complimented her on her flowers, most of which were in pots. She beamed as she said, “My husband likes flowers.” Then she proceeded to talk about quite a few of the plants.

In the afternoon, Leroy and I picked the black raspberries along the bike trail. Since the amount was so small, we will not go again this year. On the way home we visited with someone who has done a great job of adding some flowers to their landscape. She also beamed when I complimented her on it.

Sometimes I wonder why I feel that God has wanted us in this neighborhood when I do not see what I am supposed to do. Perhaps it is greeting people and giving compliments about the efforts they make. It does not seem like much, but I do not know the ramifications of such.

Paula

Delivering Newsletters

Hello,

This morning I did another batch of newsletters. Morning was the better choice compared to the hot afternoon. Besides the temps being a bit lower there were some breezes. I do talk to random people from time to time on these delivery forays. This morning I talked with a guy walking his dog. First he told me that he would like to come to the meetings but he works on Thursday when we hold the meetings. He told me that he likes trout fishing and soon he will be able to do more of that as he is retiring from both of his jobs. A woman yesterday also told me she would like to come to the meetings, but works on Thursday nights. I do know there are many who do not work on Thursday, but still do not manage to come. Habits of staying home are hard to break.

I also spoke this morning with a neighbor whose twin granddaughter’s are at risk in uterus. His daughter is now in the hospital and they are trying to delay birth. It is good to get out in the area and visit with people. I am often surprised at how much people talk when they do not know me. Maybe having the newsletter in hand makes me a safe person to talk with.

There is still a group of deliveries to make. I had thought Leroy might help me, but I might do it alone as we want to pick berries again tomorrow and I want to go shopping with help from Leroy to try to pick out some curtains and rods. After church there is only so much time and energy in the day. I could deliver the last of the newsletters Monday morning before I go to work. That might even be the coolest choice.

Paula

Hot and Hotter

Hello,

Even though it is so hot out, lately 90 + seems to be the normal high, we often bask in air conditioned comfort. Both of us find our work places have temps much cooler than we would like, but home is about right.

The year I took classes in the summer for my library degree was the worst. The library classrooms were often cooled to the 50’s. We students all wore jeans and sweatshirts. Once before a test when the professor had not yet come, someone checked the temp and learned that it was 51. I started doing jumping jacks to try to warm up my hands so they could write. I did get 100% on that test. The person who graded it complimented me on that because she had only had one other person in a few years manage to do that. I suspect it was the jumping jacks feeding the brain with blood.

At the time we did not have air conditioning in our house. I would strip off my winter clothes before the drive home. One of my classmates commented that the best part of the day was sitting in the hot car. Our house was often above 80 degrees. At night we would have a fan set up to pull in the cool night air, but it would not get cold by any means. During the day it would heat up in spite of careful shade and window monitoring. I remember not feeling well much of the time. Could spending so much time in extreme temperatures day after night, cause illness?

Other summers we lived there, we would adjust to the heat and it did not seem as bad because we were rarely in such low temperatures. People would complain about the heat and I often wondered what they were talking about.

Paula

Volunteering = satisfaction

Hello,

Once again, Leroy and I handed out water at the 4^th of July race in our city. With the temperature warm/hot and humidity high, it was a very necessary task. Even with the early morning start some people were starting to be a bit stressed by the exertion combined with the heat, water was necessary for life. It is great to do some volunteering that feels so important. When we were first asked to help about four years ago, I did not think it would feel so seriously needed, but I find that it is indeed. We fill paper cups ahead of time, hold cups on the flat of our hand so they can be grabbed easily, dash to the supply table get a refill, hold, dash, hold dash, and pick up cups that are on the ground as most runners just drop them. Some put them in my stack of cups as I was picking them up, obviously they are not serious about making time, however I still felt that they did not need to do that.

There was a policeman standing at our corner. When most of the runners had done the trip out, but not the trip back, a car came up the non full of runners side. When they pulled up to the intersection, the policeman stopped them and directed them to another street.

Later, I went over and thanked him for doing that, telling him, “When I saw that, I thought, what are they doing?”

With a laugh he said, “I thought the same thing.”

“I was glad to see you direct them away. I was not comfortable saying anything. Thank you.” I added.

“That is why I am here.” he said.

I suspect about 20 people helped with this water effort. We shared a little brunch afterwards. That is nice too. I now know a man who is an even more serious recycler than I am. He came prepared to recycle almost everything that was used. Glad to meet people like that.

Paula

Picking More Raspberries

Hello,

This morning I went out fairly early to pick raspberries and mulberries that grow along the bike trail. Excitement reigned as I found many more black raspberries than I expected. I even refrained from eating because I wanted to show off for Leroy the amount that I was able to get in my bucket. It is probably a quart or more. The mulberries were not as plentiful or my enthusiasm waned because I did not get so many of them, perhaps just a pint or a bit more.

As I was picking, a young dog walking woman stopped to ask, “What are you picking?”

She was so pleased and bubbly when I showed her the mulberries and raspberries. She had not known about black raspberries at all. Even though she knew the words mulberry tree, she did not know what a mulberry tree was. She said, “I have a five year old daughter. I will bring her here to pick some of these. She will like that.”

She wondered where I lived. When I told her she exclaimed, “So far!”

Amazing, I think it is close, although I now have over 4000 steps. The mulberries are almost finished for the year. Some of the more shaded raspberries will produce for a little while longer.

Leroy is going to work Friday and Saturday so I will probably come back by myself. It is nice to have a helper, but I can still manage to have a good time enjoying nature including birds. Leroy and I must walk a little out of the normal path of life in the United States because we are often doing things that others do not do and some do not even know about the possibility.

Paula